


Following Their Footsteps

by Noctuarie



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom
Genre: angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28703001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noctuarie/pseuds/Noctuarie
Summary: Tubbo's undercover mission as a spy during Schlatt's presidency has started to go too far. Meanwhile, Tommy is finding struggles of his own while he stays with Technoblade.
Kudos: 9





	1. Growing Grievances

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a lot of the Tubbo and Schlatt dynamic stuff I've seen, and the sadness that is Technoblade no longer partnering with Tommy.
> 
> It doesn't line up with the order of events from the SMP so there's no real spoilers. First chapter will be Tubbo and Schlatt, the second will have Techno and Tommy for those interested.

Tubbo tightened his tie, tucking it neatly into his suit as he looked at himself in the mirror. L'Manberg was still in one piece. Things were going great. He was fine. 

"Aye, Tubbo!" A voice echoed from behind him, pulling his gaze from his reflection. 

He took in a deep breath, relaxing his shoulders as he noticed who was coming up to him. "Hey, Schlatt," his name alone left a sour taste in his mouth, but he did his best to save face in front of him.

Schlatt was busy adjusting his own suit, though there wasn't much he could do for the stench of alcohol and the bags under his eyes. He looked like a disaster, but that was the only way Tubbo had ever seen him. He put an arm over Tubbo's shoulders, looking at the pair of them in the mirror. "You know what we look like, Tubbo?"

Tubbo shrugged, "Idiots in suits?" he said, crossing his arms. His shoulders tensed at the contact, he couldn't help it. No matter how long he was undercover here, he had yet to rid himself of the discomfort whenever Schlatt talked to him alone. It felt as if he were cornered, a rabbit trapped by a wolf. Yet in truth, it was simply him and an old alcoholic that had worked his way into a seat of power, for better or worse. 

Schlatt let out a burst of laughter, followed by a fit of coughs that he quickly recovered from. "No, Tubbo. Tubbo, I see- I see a god in this mirror." He cleared his throat, taking a moment to recollect himself. 

"Are you... referring to yourself?" Tubbo asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at them in the mirror. 

"Of course I am." Schlatt nodded, admiring his reflection. "But next to that, I see his apprentice. A man meant to follow in his shoes." 

Tubbo gave a weak smile, looking at Schlatt. Sunken eyes, scratched horns that weighted his head, and terribly yellowed teeth. Shoes that he certainly never wanted to fill. "I think you'll have to keep your god complex to yourself," Tubbo huffed, shaking off Schlatt's arm. 

Schlatt smiled, finally looking away from the mirror to face him as Tubbo started to walk away. "Oh come on Tubbo, another election will come 'round eventually, and I know exactly who would be best suited to take my place. Even if you've got a lot to learn from this old man, you know?"

Tubbo's eyes went wide. "You want me to be the next president?" 

"Ah, well, I mean you have to be elected," Schlatt said. "I saved us from a dictatorship, Tubbo. I'm not letting this country fall into another one." He shook his head, "but I'd certainly endorse a campaign from a guy like you!"

"Right," Tubbo muttered, rubbing at the back of his neck. He wasn't sure if he should be proud that he had convinced Schlatt so well, or upset that their morals had to have aligned on some level for them to get along this well. 

"Don't look so glum!" Schlatt looked Tubbo up and down, "This is an opportunity. You'll be leading us into the next era, whatever comes after Schlatt."

"Whatever comes after Schlatt," he repeated, shaking his head. It was hard to believe that Schlatt would ever be gone, truly. 

"Don't think about it too hard, Tubbo. I know it's hard to imagine the world without me as your guide- but you'll make it," Schlatt laughed, reaching over to ruffle Tubbo's hair. 

Tubbo winced, regretting shoving off Schlatt's arm if it was only going to lead to this. 

"Huh," Schlatt suddenly said, pulling his hand back. "Tubbo, there's something stuck in your hair."

Tubbo looked at him skeptically, expecting some sort of prank to be in progress. 

"I'm being serious, despite what you think," Schlatt frowned, "I'm not picking out whatever's stuck in there, look in the mirror and do it yourself." 

"Fine, fine," Tubbo said, lowering his head to check it out in the mirror. He pulled back his hair, attempting to detangle the knots that had lived there for ages, trying to decide what could've possibly caught Schlatt's attention. As he reached through the knots, he finally found it. "No," he breathed, his fingers barely touching it. "No, no-"

"What, you got protein powder stuck in there? I know exactly how to get it out, don't worry about it." Schlatt leaned over, squinting at the mirror to try and see what Tubbo had found. 

Tubbo slowly shook his head. "It's- It's a horn." It didn't take him long to find the second one, small horns poking just barely into his hair, just enough that Schlatt had found them. Not much more for them to grow before they would be visible even with his bush of hair. "I have horns."

"Tubbo!" Schlatt's eyes went wide, staring at the mirror, then at Tubbo, then back at the mirror again. "Tubbo, that's amazing! You're a miniature Schlatt! You know, I've been told my personality rubs off on people, but I've never seen something like this before."

"I'm not anything like you!" Tubbo forced himself to look away from the mirror, his heart pounding in his chest. He couldn't get himself to think straight, his mind was confuddled trying to figure out how this could've possibly happened. How could his body have betrayed him like this? How was this even possible?

"Tubbo calm down, man." Schlatt watched him carefully, noticing how Tubbo clutched at the fabric of his suit, as if it was all too tight, as if everything was crushing in on him. "It isn't that big of a deal! I'm sure it'll grow in real nice, and they're very little maintenance." He touched his own horns, now more conscious of their weight. 

"This can't be real," Tubbo said, as much to himself as to Schlatt. His hands reached back up to his head, reaching for the horns as he checked for them again, praying that he had somehow been wrong, that nothing was really up there. But he found the horns easily, once again brushing against his fingertips. 

"Tubbo, clearly you're meant to carry on my legacy!" Schlatt said, "this is a sign. A sign of our great future together."

"It's a sign of... something," he whispered, refusing to look in the mirror again. 

Schlatt patted Tubbo's back, unable to wipe the smile off his face. "We're meant for great things, Tubbo. Great things."


	2. Morning Mischief

It was a change of pace for Tommy to not be left alone. The weight of exile didn't sit so heavily on his shoulders when he was with someone. Sure, his world was still falling a part piece by piece, a country he had helped to create was far out of his reach- but he had a friend. He had Techno.

"I think we can do great things, Techno," Tommy said one morning, as he stumbled from his home that was now made in the basement of Techno's house, a hideout that hadn't remained hidden for very long. 

Techno let out a huff, leaning against the windowsill as his eyes scanned the snowy landscape. Despite his efforts to retire and isolate himself from a world of dictatorships and tyranny, it would never let him go. He was dragged back into these political disputes every time, and it felt like the whole world was telling him it was time to end it once and for all. "Tommy, I have big plans. Plans for me, and you. If you prove to be more than a raccoon living in my basement."

"Techno! I cannot believe you'd compare to me something like a raccoon, I am your most valuable ally." 

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "More like you're my biggest hindrance." Sometimes Tommy felt like a ball and chain. Something he was forced to drag around and it never served a practical purpose. 

"I don't know what hindrance means, but I'm going to assume it's a compliment for my great building skills. You've seen that tower outside? That's the sort of thing that'll get women here, Techno. They'll be so impressed." He placed his hands on his hips, posing by the window as he too surveyed the landscape. Not that he would notice if anything was off, he rarely had the perception to pick up inconsistencies. 

Techno brought a hand to the bridge of his nose, slowly shaking his head. "I don't- I don't think there are any words in a dictionary to describe you, Tommy."

"That's 'cause I'm so much better than dictionaries. I define dictionaries, they don't define me."

"I don't know what that means. Do you know what that means?" Techno frowned, wondering if there would ever be a day where this child didn't give him a headache. 

Tommy shook his head, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to comb his messy bedhead. "No, but I think it gets a message across." He turned from the window, starting to pace his way back and forth across the room. He shot a glance towards Edward, the other house occupant, but he wasn't too talkative. "So what are you working on today, big man?"

"I haven't thought about it," Techno replied. Which wasn't true at all, but he had previously made plans with Philza, and he wasn't about to invite Tommy to ruin his afternoon. "Why, do you have something planned?"

"Not yet, but surely great things, great things." He reached into one of Techno's chests, pulling out a few of his apples to eat. 

"Tommy, don't touch those. I have steak I can give you, you don't need to eat my-"

It was too late and Tommy had already begun to dig into his apple, munching on it as he stared at Techno. "I don't know what you're going on about. I'll keep eating these, thanks," he said as he ate, Techno looking away to not see the boy's poor manners as he chewed up the apple.

Techno slowly went back to looking out the window, trying to gather his thoughts once again as he ignored Tommy's loud munching from behind him. But even that didn't last long.

"Ouch!" Tommy spat out the apple. "Jesus, Techno, what's in this? I swear I just ate some of these yesterday, but it hurt like hell to try and bite that." 

Techno let out a long, drawn out sigh. He wondered if Tommy could tell he was tired of putting up with this, or if he was just that oblivious. "There's nothing wrong with the apples, there's probably something wrong with you." He pulled his gaze from the window once again, finally giving up on any remains of a peaceful morning. 

"No, it genuinely hurts!" Tommy complained, shaking his head. "I'm not making this up, I know you think I am. It hurt in the front of my mouth, like my lower teeth. What'd you put in these, drugs?"

"I do not lace my food with drugs, Tommy." It had been a long morning, and Tommy was certainly making it longer. He was already tired from a poor night's sleep, worrying over his horse and the safety of his home. As the next words slipped out of his mouth, he could only blame his tired mind for not catching it a moment sooner. "It's probably just your tusks, you're a lot younger than me." 

"My... what?" Tommy asked, his mouth slack-jawed.

Techno shook his head. "I said it's probably because you don't brush your teeth."

"That is definitely not what you just said." Tommy looked at the apple, curious to see if there was anything actually wrong with it. 

"Nope, I don't know what you're talking about." The easiest thing was to fall back on denial. Not that denial would stop him from now focusing on Tommy's mouth, trying to see if his tired brain could possibly piece anything together.

Tommy let out a burst of laughter, excitedly running to the window. He positioned himself to see his reflection in the glass, pulling back his lips to look at his teeth. "Am I really going to have tusks, Techno? I'll be just like you! We'll be the pig men of the SMP, real intimidating like."

"I don't know how'd that be possible, Tommy. You're literally adopted-"

"I can see 'em, Techno! They're so tiny! Oh, this is so poggers my friend."

"There's no way." Techno leaned towards the window beside him, squinting at the glass to try and see if he really did have tusks. He couldn't deny his sight, and just peeking through by Tommy's teeth were two small tusks, barely visible at all. "You have to be kidding, I didn't say you could room here and steal my look."

"Oh Techno, this just shows we are meant to be! We're like, practically brothers now. Brothers in arms!" He pumped his fist in the air, almost jumping up and down in excitement.

"To an extent, it is easier to cause anarchy with two people," he admitted. "I just can't believe this is real. How am I supposed to tell Phil about this?"

"I can't wait to tell Phil! We're growing closer one day at a time, Techno, like family." A wide smile brightened Tommy's face, the child abundant with joy.

Techno gave a small smile back. It was hard to admit, but his joy was a little contagious. "A family of anarchists." 

Tommy shrugged, still enamored by the discovery of his tusks. "Well, I think that's the best kind of family to have."

Techno nodded, finally coming to an agreement. "It certainly is."


End file.
